


Emotional Support

by Quinzelle



Category: Alexa & Katie (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Missing Scene, tw: mentions of parental death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinzelle/pseuds/Quinzelle
Summary: A series of 'unseen' scenes between Katie & Aiden developing their relationship.-" Katie could still feel her limbs twitching and her hands scrunching into fists. She watched Aiden tidy as she consciously tried to relax her hands and release the tension, remembering the words of the therapist to lower her shoulders. His back was to her."Can you, um, tell me about your dad?" She whispered slowly, trying to maintain the breaths. "
Relationships: Katie Cooper/Aiden
Comments: 49
Kudos: 142





	1. The Emotional Support Frenemy

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoy this small work I wrote!  
> I adored Katie and Aiden and I felt that they deserved more development in their relationship. I created this scene as an insight into what may have happened after the panic attack.

Katie could still feel her limbs twitching and her hands scrunching into fists. She watched Aiden tidy as she consciously tried to relax her hands and release the tension, remembering the words of the therapist to lower her shoulders. His back was to her.

"Can you, um, tell me about your dad?" She whispered slowly, trying to maintain the breaths. Aiden halted and turned slowly, still clutching the tray of rubbish and she looked away, at her hands. "I'm, um, sorry that's probably rude ah it's just, I don't really know of anyone else with anxiety and this is all new to me and-" Katie rambled through her thoughts before trailing away, her hands fisted in her lap. 

Aiden dropped the tray on the countertop and pulled the seat back to her table. She still didn't look up but could feel his eyes on her. Aiden has always been unreadable, unlike Alexa and their families. Alexa's stubborn, like her parents, and her emotions are always written on her face no matter how much she denies it. Her mom and Jack, they are avoiders - just like Katie. You had to find some way to catch them, usually with food like mice with cheese. But Aiden's always aloof. Is he always as chill as he seems? Seems hard to believe, especially now with knowledge of his dad.

"My dad has PTSD, he's a war veteran. He served for most of my life but returned…" Aiden paused and looked at Katie, who’d raised her head slowly as he spoke. Aiden sat like normal, relaxed into his chair with a knee propped over the other, but his eyes flittered around the room, rather than keeping contact. His mouth in a small smile. "My mom died so he returned to take care of me. It.. it was a lot for him. He’d missed a lot..." 

Aiden raised his eyes back to Katie, who sat with her eyes and mouth wide.  
"Oh don't give me that look, you don't want my pity either." He grinned at her, "It’s been a long time now, we’re okay."

Katie sniffed and swallowed back the pitying apology that had formed, "It wasn't pity, I was just surprised to learn that an army brat is such a lazy person." He stuck his tongue out at her, mockingly, which she returned. They smiled at each other warmly, enjoying the simple company of each other. Katie looked down at her lap, her hands resting but clasped.

"How come you're so relaxed though?" She asked quietly.  
"One of us had to be the chill one." He says, smugly and rocking back on his chair. Katie lifted her foot warningly, returning his smug.  
"Oi, do you fancy spending the rest of our night in the ER?" He jabs a finger at her for emphasis and she laughs, standing up to finish the closing up chores. 

Aiden stays until they're eventually outside, locking the door. Neither of them acknowledge the decision, so Katie doesn't acknowledge her gratefulness. Just like how she'd spent the whole time not acknowledging that a twisted part of her was happy at knowing more about Aiden. That she maybe even wanted to spend more time with him, even if it was in the ER.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make Aiden's dad an army veteran based on my own interpretations of Aiden, being a rather confident and chilled out character who also appeared rather "hyper masculine". I also couldn't really picture what type of person or relationship he'd have with his mum so I decided to go with this history.  
> (Yes I am also English. I tried to keep the language tied more to America with the ER and "mom" but I think I inadvertently made Aiden slightly more English in his body language, haha)
> 
> I don't really know about Army families so if I have included any misinformation, please let me know!  
> If people enjoy this, I'm hoping I can maybe come up with more ideas for "missing scenes" in their relationship or even just longer fics <3


	2. The Emotional Support Study Buddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set before Alexa & Katie took the SAT resits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for any errors in terms of SAT questions, I did my best to google examples of questions and what a "good but not obscenely good" SAT score would be. I set the chapter in November as that's when resits typically are in the UK (either November or January). There's a chance that doesn't fit with the Alexa & Katie storyline but... hopefully it does! I don't know if the book I chose is even used in SAT questions but it was one of the few American books I studied at school (buuutt I also graduated [English] High School around 5 years ago and I did all of that part from memory as I am lazy...). 
> 
> Either way, I hope the errors can be overlooked and not eradicate the joy at the fact that I came up with another story idea! I really enjoyed writing the first one and it seems you guys did too!
> 
> So, here's another "unseen" chapter into Katie & Aiden's relationship development!

The lights still glowed softly inside Wired as Katie arrived, the sun starting to set in the late November afternoon. Most of the chairs were stacked on top of the tables or to the sides and the radio had already been turned off as she walked through the door, shivering at the heat change. At the sound of the door, Aiden called from behind the counter. 

"Hey, sorry we're- What are you doing here?" His hair was poking up more than usual from having his hands racked through it. It was his exhausted habit, his alternative to sighing. Katie had started noticing his habits and his ticks more and more, the small hints that someone’s obnoxiously complicated coffee order had annoyed him or that he’d accidentally burned himself but pretended it was nothing. The small proud smiles he gave himself when Gary praised him for the chalkboard designs. Sadly, all of this knowledge was useless for her SATs and even more useless for retaining her pride. Rather than note the glaze in his eyes and the exhausted effort put into his usually effortless lean, Katie tried to think of a witty quip (that was not flirting, no matter what Alexa thought) but Gary saved her from the hassle of having to. He swung around the counter’s corner, in his typical tornado,

"Right, remember our deal and don't think you can make a habit of this." He jabbed his fingers at her, emphasising his words before dropping the keys into her hand. He grabbed his jacket from the nearby coat rack, "And don't stay too long or people will start thinking we actually like them." Gary vanished out the door, leaving Aiden standing in confusion as Katie walked past to the couches. Aiden spun around, dropping the tea towel in his hands on the counter.

"So, I'm definitely missing something here. What did you blackmail Gary with for this? Did you find out he has a stuffed animal collection? Or maybe that he runs an after-hours Fight Club?" He asked, a new playful glaze in his eyes attempting to replace the tiredness.

Katie pulled out book after book, flashcards and highlighters from her backpack. "I told Gary I'd do whatever chores and serve whichever terrible people he didn't want to for a week if he'd let me study here."

"As opposed to a library?"  
"Well, gosh, I wish I'd thought of that!" Katie rolled her eyes as she sat down and started flipping through her books. Aiden sat down with her, at the other end of the couch, still smirking. "The library closes early on Sundays, like this place, and my brother has redecided that he’s to be the next Gene Kelly." 

"Aren't you essentially joined to Alexa's hip? Don't you have that 'mi casa es su casa'?"   
"Yes but tonsil tennis practice isn't exactly my chosen study soundtrack of choice," Aiden pulls a face at her wording which makes her smile inwardly (stupid stomach). "Neither are your questions so please ah-scoot!" Katie adds a flourish of finger guns towards the door but Aiden stays where he is, sitting closer even. He reaches across the table to her book pile, sifting through the books.

"I thought you already took the SATs?" He asked, still looking down at the covers. Katie smiled again… he remembers all that? "After all, that's how Putt-Putt lost our beloved windmill." Always one to ruin a nice moment. 

"Oh shut up," She wrestles her books from him gently as he laughs, "They were closing down anyway, I did them a favour." Placing the books down again, she murmurs, "Wasn't very beloved to you when you stood and watched me trash it."

Aiden gasps, hand over his heart, "How dare you. Windy meant the world to me! You know nothing of our relationship." Katie gently pushes his face away with her hand, eyes rolling again.

"Leave the acting to me, Romeo. Any-way," She emphasises, keen to escape that conversation's impending direction, "I didn't end up sitting them so me and Alexa have to take the resits in a couple weeks."

"What'd you do? Move on from beating up Windy's to beating up a Wendy?" Aiden chuckles to himself, but Katie’s frozen. He looks towards her, his expression dropping slowly. Katie clears her throat and inhales a shallow breath in, trying to create an airy facade,  
"Um no, no. It, I actually had my first panic attack, well first big. Um, yeah." Katie shuffles her papers aimlessly, her acting abilities failing her when she needs them most. Seriously, what’s the point in acting if you can’t lie? She flicks an eye back to Aiden, wearing a worried expression. If nonchalance won’t aid her, owning the truth might as well instead. "I got to the entrance and started panicking and curling up on the floor. Alexa came back for me and got help. She refused to leave so she missed the tests as well."

Aiden sighed, hand in his hair. To an outsider, he’d still look like a picture of chilled nonchalance but Katie could see the regret and pity ever so slightly. She wasn’t sure what part of the scene annoyed her more. "I'm.. I didn't mean to put my foot in it."   
"It never bothers you normally." Katie jabs, a little more bitterly than she’d planned, "now, can I study?" She gives him a smile. It’s an afterthought but it’s a genuine smile. He doesn’t need to treat her like she’s made of glass.

Aiden's eyes flicker over the table and he grabs the flashcards, "What is the main narrative point in Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”?" He reads from the card.

"You don't have to babysit me. I'll be okay."   
Aiden raises an eyebrow at her. "Babysit? Can't a friend help another friend study? Can't a friend help another friend saturate their friend's hunger to learn about," He pauses to read through the other cards, "the Great Depression and Steinbeck’s misogyny?"   
"I don't have a hunger for it! Besides, I don’t think misogyny is the main takeaway from ‘Of Mice and Men’."

"Firstly, I was talking about my hunger and second, the book hardly passes the Bechdel Test and the only woman is beaten and murdered, and that’s just one scene of the book." This leads to an impassioned debate about Steinbeck, women’s roles in the Great Depression and misogyny in literature. A tick of annoyance flares as Katie remembers his reaction to her stressing due to the SATs last time. He’s a natural, she realises.

The debate comes to a natural conclusion and it’s now pitch black outside. If she has no breaks, she can get a full 2 hours of useful studying done. However, rather than leaving, Aiden surprises her by saying: "Now, main narrative point?"

“Why do you want to help me study?” Katie sighs again but determined for an answer this time. 

He gives a small, almost… shy, smile and toys up his answer. “Because I scored a 1199 on the SATs and they seem important to you.” In a regular frame of mind, Katie may have noticed the fact that he was leaving out some information. That he took a small breath of hesitation, gently pulling himself back from adding on something extra. That his eyes flickered around the room for a quick second. Yet, Katie missed all this. Instead, the words “1199” echoed in her head.   
She swallowed every inch of her pride, hanging her head for a few seconds in resignation. “The main narrative point is…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have another "unseen" scene idea... 
> 
> Though, I'm also tempted to create an AU-type of story as I've tried keeping this fic in line with Alexa & Katie's canon as well as, no swearing but it would be fun to write a fic for older fans (I don't really know the average audience age and didn't want to assume everyone was older).   
> Let me know if you have any thoughts!


	3. The Emotional Support Present Guru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the scene that differs from the canon most that I've written so far. It's still them and is still an "unseen" scene but.. yeah. I hope you all still enjoy it all the same! Some of you may also be happy to know: Alexa's finally made an appearance! Because, we all know they can't be separate for too long <3 !
> 
> Stay till the End Chapter Notes for a small behind-the-scenes as well! <3

"And so, can you believe that Spencer actually tried to argue that JAM doughnuts are superior to the sprinkle?" Alexa raised her sprinkle doughnut in emphasis, like showing a newborn Simba to the pride, before taking a bite out of her beloved child, "It's madness! I say, he's lucky he's cute" the words muffling as she chews.

Katie gave small awkward smiles to the other shoppers who were giving Alexa questioning looks. Alexa ignored them, as always. The ignorant would think Alexa never cares what people think. Katie knows it’s that she never cares what people think, as long as she’s having fun. Bags swung at their sides, filled with dorm decor and prom accessories, as the last of the doughnuts fill their mouths. 

Alexa brushes the remnants of her doughnut from her hands, "So where should we go nex- Hey!" Alexa stops abruptly, and points to the other side of the mall. Katie stops just as abruptly, colliding into another shopper. Another round of awkward smiles and apologies as Alexa grabs Katie out of the way and points again: "Why is Aiden in the toy store?" 

Sure enough, Katie spots Aiden standing in the toy store like a sore thumb as he towers over the majority of its 2ft tall customers. A burst of hysterics sound from Katie watching Aiden, the look of horror on his face as he stands in the embodiment of his cutest and fluffiest nightmare. In that moment, Katie wonders how light possibly travels faster than sound as Aiden’s head whips around to face them. More shoppers stare at them as Katie screeches and dives behind Alexa.  
Alexa huffs, trying to wrangle her out and snapping, "Katie! We talked about this! Nobody is fooled!" 

"Well it's not fair that only small people are allowed to be afraid! I am a big, friendly, scaredy cat giant and I deserve to be able to hide!" Snaps Katie, trying to hide behind her again. 

"What have you got to hide from Aiden, huuh?" Alexa wiggles her eyebrows and grins, waiting for the gossip. 

"Nothing! I just, y'know, see enough of him already!" Katie stutters out the words, swallowing her pride at how pathetic she sounds. Alexa turns back to Aiden, before facing Katie again and wearing the expression that haunts her nightmares: the scheming face.

"AIDEN! What a surprise to see you here!" Exclaims Alexa, striding closer to the toy store and dragging Katie behind her. Aiden has his arms folded, waiting for them to get closer, wearing a face that’s simultaneously the cat that caught the mouse and the terror of the mouse itself.  
“Alexa, Alexa, Alexa no-”  
“Ssh, he’s already seen us. Walking away would’ve been even sadder!”  
“I’m alright with that!” Cried Katie through a whisper as Alexa gives her a small push. 

“So, you’ a big fan of The Piggles?” Taunts Alexa, pointing at the standee behind Aiden. His neck folds in two as he takes in the cardboard.  
“Are you not?”  
“You know,” Chimes in Katie, “You’ve already lost your street cred’ “ Jazz hands for flare, “by being here.”  
Aiden laughs, a small croak escaping too. “Caring about street cred’ in the first place is how you know you don’t have any.” He adds a small wink, his own signature flare. 

Their conversation is accompanied by the sounds of The Piggles’ newest song and children screaming as their parents drag them past, leaving the shop without whichever is the hottest new toy. Alexa watches them like a Wimbledon spectator, her toes scrunching in her shoes to try to stop from intervening. It fails, but the credit is that she still tried!

“What actually does bring you here?” blurts Alexa.  
Aiden’s eyes widen and flick to her, confused before composure shadows his face again. He coughs a little and hangs a hand behind his neck, "I'm… I'm trying to find a present for my niece… she's 3."

Alexa pauses, taking in the answer and searching for one of her own. 

"You have a sibling?" asks Katie, incredulously as the illusion of him being an only child shatters. 

"I have an older brother." He replies straightforwardly, his back ridged and eyes shifting around the room.

Alexa lights up animatedly, her face adorned by the scheming smirk again. "Why doesn't Katie help you find a present? She has a younger brother, I mean he's not 3 but hey, he's close enough!" Alexa gives Katie’s shoulders a jiggle as the pair of them try to stutter out their protests that she ignores and rushes out ,"Perfect! Well, I'll meet you later Katie. Bye!" Alexa sprints away from the shop as Katie tries to dive to grab her arm but alas, that damned Basketball run. Normally watching Alexa run swelled Katie with pride at her amazing recovery. This time, it makes her want to kick her in the shin. Frozen in place to the oddly sticky floor of the store, Katie spins slowly round to face Aiden again. 

"So, a brother, huh?" Katie tries, light-heartedly. Curiosity always kills the damn cat.  
"You can go, you know?" His words bite but his crossed arms squeeze at his chest, his eyes staring down at the floor. 

"I can but I won't. You need help with a present so a present we shall get!" Katie smiles nervously at him, swallowing back the deep desire to ask about his brother along with hiding the box that questions “Why do you care”? That’s one box that won’t be opened. Aiden relaxes slightly (which honestly just looks like Katie's fully relaxed), nodding hesitantly. They start walking up aisles of race cars and dolls.

“You’d think they’d finally stop gendering toys?” remarks Aiden with a scowl as he picks up a fluorescent pink race car with the name ‘Girlies First Car’, “Let’s go shopping and buy magazines?” He reads from the box before dropping it back on the shelf. 

“Next you’ll be giving TedTalks about the stupidity of ‘Mansized Kleenex’.” laughed Katie.  
“Oh, don’t even,” He shook his head, the creases from his earlier scowl still etched in his eyebrows, “It’s all stupidity. It’s an object!”  
Katie bumps his shoulder lightly with hers, staring at the creases sadly. “I never would’ve pegged you for the feminist type. It’s good and I know why I’m a feminist but I think I have slightly more of a vested interest?”  
“Everyone has a vested interest. Male, female, genderless. It’s about equality for everyone, no matter what “Menists” think - or whatever they call themselves.”  
“Was this belief before or after your niece?” Ventures Katie, slowly.  
“Before but strengthened by her.” Aiden then adds bitterly, “Someone has to.” Katie’s mouth opens to respond but Aiden flashes her a smile that never meets his eyes, it’s unspoken message loud and clear: “Don’t push it”. She pauses before changing her sentence, remembering why they’re even stood there in the first place,

"So, what kind of thing does she like?"  
"I don't think they make Casey's ideal toy." Responds Aiden, the scowl finally disappearing, softly with a smile, "I think the only profession Barbie never had is Army Cadet and that's the only thing I can think of to match her favourite pink Army Tank." Katie stops, speechless.  
"Are you messing with me?"  
"For once? No." He smiles brightly, "My dad custom made it for her as a joke and, to Nathan's disgust, it became her favourite thing in the world." He picks a loose rainbow slinky up from one of the shelves, tossing it between his hands mumbling a "I didn't know they still made these" that slinkys must be tired of hearing.

"Is… Nathan's your brother?" Katie hedged, hoping the slinky was enough of a distraction. Toss, toss, toss, toss. 

"Yeah. Yeah…" He nodded, still only staring down at the slinky. The slinky keeps flopping between his hands until a child comes barreling past his legs and the nearby shelf. His head snaps and the slinky shoots from his hands. Normally, watching Aiden be as clumsy as us regular humans brought great joy to Katie. But somehow, now, she actually wants him to keep talking. Now, she actually wants him to tease her, at least something like himself. Aiden regains balance, his face some weird collage of expressions. "He's 12 years older than me. By the time our mom died and dad came back, he was at college." 

They keep walking through the store, unsure of what toys they're actually heading towards anymore. The slinky still jangles in his hands, gently. He shrugs, answering an unasked question, "Yeah we just, never really knew each other." Aiden dumps the slinky on a random shelf before looking up again, "Anyway, you were a girl once, what can I get?"

"Were?" Katie raises her eyebrow at him and poses, "I'm going to assume that you’re referring to the fact that I am now a grown-up woman," Aiden stifles a laugh as Katie picks up a plastic lightsaber, "because otherwise, this lightsaber is gonna discover a new meaning to the dark side."

"I never would've pegged you as a Star Wars fan, Darth Katie."  
"Gendering Star Wars now, are we?" She taunts, wiggling her eyebrows at him and putting the lightsaber back into the plastic tub, turning to go searching again. Until a small "thunk" taps on her head. Aiden stands happily, grasping his own lightsaber. Katie sticks her tongue out at him, which he returns as he dumps the lightsaber back. 

“Annywaay, Barbie actually has been in the Army once in 1989. Not quite Cadet but, I think I can make it work.” Aiden opens his mouth as Katie holds up a hand, “One, my mom is a big Barbie fan. Two, I’m not going to answer whatever the next question is and lastly, I’ll remind you not to push that because I’m about to save your ass here.” Aiden clamped his mouth shut and nodded as they wandered through the store, snatching up a Barbie and a G.I. Joe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I originally wrote this chapter about a month ago. I have only got around to editing it recently as my boyfriend came to stay for a while as we haven't seen each other since lockdown was first enforced in the UK (he visited as some limitations were lifted and were very sensible <3 BE SENSIBLE KIDS !!). 
> 
> Whilst he was here, I showed him the draft version (he's never seen the show but likes reading my work) and he discovered a slightly humiliating typo from the draft:  
> * "You can go, you know?" His words have slightly more bite to them than usual, his prostate more reserved. *
> 
> I still to this day don't know what word I was trying to say but it most definitely wasn't prostate! (The only contender we can think of is 'disposition' but the sentence was so ruined, I scrapped it haha.) 
> 
> Anyway - might not have been an interesting tid-bit but I thought it'd be fun and a nice way to interact with you guys! I love seeing all your comments, it means so much to me. Thank you so much!  
> If you have any ideas or AUs that you'd like me to write for Aiden/Katie, feel free to comment them below or message me! I'd love to write more fanfictions for them but I'm lacking in inspiration a little <3


	4. The Emotional Support Memelord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A self-indulgent honour to memes that I wrote a few months ago and have spent months trying to figure out how to make it interesting for everyone else too!  
> But, our protagonists also make some interesting developments...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! If you follow my other Aiden x Katie fic or have read my responses in the comments of this fic, then you will know why I haven't updated in a long while. The tl;dr version is - I've been very overwhelmed since returning to university and things got out of hand. Don't worry, I am still intending to finish this and my other Aiden x Katie fic! 
> 
> ALSO: Did everyone but me know that Katie & Aiden's boss is called Barry not Gary? Where the heck did I pluck Gary from? He looks like a Gary...  
> I haven't changed it yet in any of the other chapters... or my other fic (because yes, I did it in both). I guess my question is - should I go back and change it or have you all just accepted that I'm a little bit dumb and that's okay?  
> and another question  
> \- do you guys care about the formatting much? I feel like it changes from chapter to chapter and I never know what to do for the best.  
> (I only just finished editing and got an idea on how to extend this chapter. I wanted to upload it as soon as possible, but it's also like 12:52am and I'm supposed to wake up early. That and I'm a lazy editor when it comes to editing my own work, as you shall soon learn... hehe).
> 
> I'm also sorry this probably isn't the best chapter of the scenes I've written... or the best written of the chapters, haha. The pacing really could be better but I kind of needed to just get this chapter out of the way. This is kind of more filler than anything.

“Now, pick a starter: Fries, Chicken Nuggets, Herb & Chill Calamari - ew, gross - pasta salad, veggie salad or Onion Rings.” Aiden was reading aloud from his phone, as he leaned across the counter. Katie paused from her sweeping and leaned against the broom in her hand.  
“Chicken Nuggets.”  
“And not Onion Rings?!” Asked Aiden in shock, pressing Chicken Nuggets anyway.  
“And not _Fre Sh A Voca Do_?” She adds, earning an unimpressed head shake from Aiden, “Is there anything better than Nuggets?”  
“Yes, a really good book.” Murmurs Aiden aimlessly as he looks at his phone. 

Katie smiles, she’s getting better at this. He’s been teaching her how to reference memes better… it’s been slow progress. This had become part of their new locking up process. Barry had started leaving earlier now that there are two of them, something about dates which made them both shake in fear and sorrow for the poor person on a date with him, though it did lead to some interesting hypotheses between them about the kind of person who would date him - or just generally that he had a sexuality that wasn’t simply nobody. This had led to them devising up new ways to make closing up shop fun. That mainly consisted of: betting who can clear out customers quicker at closing, trash “binball” and taking stupid Buzzfeed quizzes. Which then led to them even exchanging memes and funny posts to each other on Instagram. It leads to some conversation exchanges that always got Alexa raising an eyebrow and smiling smugly to herself. Now, Katie waits until she’s gone home to open them… but it’s not like it’s a secret or a crush or anything that Alexa is thinking… or that they started just texting generally outside of Instagram or anything...  
“What quiz is this for anyway?” asked Katie, going back to sweeping up Wired’s floor. Apparently, people no longer care for getting all of their cake into their mouths.  
“All in due time.” He responded wisely before giving her a goofy smile, “Now, pick a soup…”

“There’s no way I’m Rachel!” exclaimed Katie, reaching to look at the phone, ”Besides how can picking my buffet food decide that! No, no - How is SOUP a buffet food? I’m definitely a Monica!”  
“You _want_ to be Monica?” Asks Aiden incredulously, “The Rachel description fits: You're carefree and cheerful. You're also fashionable and look good in any…” He trails off slowly, eyes flickering, and gives a small cough.  
“In any what?” Katie tries hopping around his shoulder to see what the phone says but he switches pages. The more time she spends with Aiden, the more she learns that being shorter than people sucks at times like this.  
“Oh here’s another one!” Aiden swiftly moves the conversation on, “We know your true mental age based on the theme park you design.”  
Katie’s face lights up, “Oh, switch!”  
Aiden grabbed the trash tray and handed Katie his phone as she hauls herself up to sit on the wooden countertop, legs dangling off the edge.  
“Theme of your park: Halloween, Fairytale, Hollywood or Carnival.”  
“Oh fairytale, 100%.” responded Aiden, instantly.  
“Shut up, I want a genuine answer for this quiz.” Katie shot back, rolling her eyes. “I need proof that you’re actually just a 7 year old in both mind and heart.”  
“You wanna give genuine answers to a company that is probably selling our answers and developing a character profile on us?”  
“Yes Mr. Conspiracy. Besides, they’re all mixed up from both of our answers.” Katie hesitates before responding with, “Wuss.”  
He sticks his tongue out at her, “Carnival.”

“Okaay, the results are Sevente.. Seventy.”  
“You’re so lying! It does not.” Aiden shoots back as he dumps the empty tray on the table closest, all recycling and rubbish sorted.  
“It does, so does. Completely. Seventy, it says seventy.” Hurries Katie, locking the screen to the phone and holding it up out of his reach.  
Aiden heads towards her, trying to grasp for his phone, “How are you aspiring to be an actress when you’re such a lame liar?” he retorts, reaching up closer for the phone.  
“Because those aren’t one and the same!” She responds haughtily, her head whipping around to argue back, not realising how close Aiden had already come. They both freeze and stare at each other, like wild animals anticipating the other’s next move. Faces only inches apart. Katie’s heart thumps and rumbles through her body, almost like an anxiety attack but… it never overflows. Just sits and thumps and bumps. Thumping until Aiden inches up slightly and snatches the phone out of her hand. Her eyes blink, puzzling the situation together whilst realising she didn’t breathe in that time. _What, what happened there? What was that?_  
“It says seventeen!” Aiden screeches in the background, evidently having unlocked his phone and unfortunately for Katie, appearing to not have the same crisis that she is having.

After that, the evening continues quietly. Katie keeps as far away from Aiden as she can without causing suspicion and Aiden muddles through some small talk with her. Bundled up in their coats and scarves, they exit through the door of a darkened Wired. Katie turns to fumble with the door lock. Aiden had taken to staying with her whilst she locks it and then walking her most of the way home - but she never relies on it. She hasn’t been able to trust that every time she turns around, he’ll still be there. With her back still turned, she doesn’t have to guess this time;  
“Hey, is everything okay?” Aiden asks, quietly. The question hangs in the air. She shivers at the sound of his voice and continues to fumble the lock for longer.  
“Yeah,” she squeaks before clearing her throat, “Yeah, no yeah. I’m fine, I’m just tired.” 

An arm, Aiden’s arm, reaches around her to finish locking the door. His chest grazes her back slightly and her stomach jumps into her throat again. She can no longer tell if he lingers or if the world just freezes for a few seconds. He offers the keys back to her, no longer in the door, in his palm instead.  
She takes them, brushing his warm hand as she does, and pockets the frozen keys, as he waits a second longer before stepping away from her.  
“Thanks, um, I don’t know what it is with this door. Or just doors in general. I always seem to struggle with just… doors.” She sighs, an overwhelming urge to bang her head against the wall surges through her. 

Aiden smiles, like he hasn’t just heard the weirdest first world problem of the day, and looks slightly bashfully at his feet as his now empty hand hangs from the back of his neck, “Well, if you ever struggle with any doors again,” He looks up, into her eyes, and that weird energy returns, “I’m always around to open them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for still coming to read my work! I incredibly appreciate it and it makes me so happy to hear that my writing is making so many others happy too!  
> I also have started taking some responsibility for the fact that I appear to be the only writer that is writing Katie & Aiden English fics and I don't want you guys to go deprived of them! I shall saturate the Alexa & Katie with as many Katie & Aiden fics as it takes... over the course of about 2 decades because apparently I am the slowest writer ever... xD
> 
> Quiz Links:  
> (Friends Quiz) - https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/01/ultimate-phoebe-friends-quiz-how-much-know-about-lisa-kudrows-iconic-character-12787414/  
> (Theme Park Quiz) - https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashajokic1/theme-park-age-quiz


End file.
